Commission, ACEA and ERTICO sign Memorandum
of Understanding on introduction of eCall for road crash victims across
Europe

Today, Mr. Fabio Colasanti, Director-General at the European
Commission’s Information-Society Directorate-General, signed together with
the representatives of two other major stakeholders, ACEA and ERTICO, a
Memorandum of Understanding that aims at realising an interoperable,
pan-European in-vehicle emergency call, eCall. The MoU, which is soon expected
to be signed by other industrial and public sector stakeholders, provides for a
solid basis for the partners to actively contribute to the development and
implementation of the eCall in potentially all new vehicles sold in Europe.

In-vehicle emergency calls (eCall) have the potential to greatly reduce the
number of fatalities, severity of injuries and stress in post-crash situations,
by speeding up the response of the emergency services.

eCall can be initiated manually or automatically after a crash. It passes
relevant information of the accident, including its accurate location, to the
emergency services (the Public Service Answering Point). Realising the
importance of eCall, the Commission proposed joint Public-Private sector actions
for the introduction of eCall in its eSafety Communication in September 2003.
Later that year, an industry-led group was established, called the eCall Driving
Group. The group has produced a basic framework architecture and business plan
for eCall implementation. To move ahead, a parallel commitment and joint effort
by the stakeholders is needed.

In signing the MoU, Mr. Colasanti stated: “The European Commission
supports this step towards realisation of interoperable in-vehicle eCalls. The
MoU gathers together those organisations that agree on the principles for its
introduction across Europe and who thus want to accelerate its deployment. I
have today signed the MoU and I would encourage all other stakeholders to sign
it as soon as possible to show their own commitment to this important
work.”

ERTICO is a not-for-profit, public/private partnership pursuing the
implementation of Intelligent Transport Systems and Services (ITS) in Europe, to
ensure sustainable mobility, travel satisfaction and high economic returns.